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Ohio Fatal Accident Case Raises Some Important Policy Questions
There is a case pending before the Ohio Supreme Court that raises some important considerations for fire departments, and in particular questions about a department’s policy for emergency response driving. The case arose out of an apparatus accident in Canton, Ohio on July 4, 2007. FF James Coombs was responding to a house fire when the apparatus he was driving struck a vehicle in an intersection and killed the two occupants, Grace and Dale Burlingame. At the time the apparatus’s siren was not functioning and the unit was responding with lights and sounding its air horn. According to court papers, the apparatus…
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Texas Fire Chief and Family Members Charged with Embezzlement
A Texas fire chief, his mother, and his sister have been arrested and charged with embezzling approximately $40,000 from the Iola Volunteer Fire Department. Fire Chief Earl Sword, his mother Wanda Sword (an accountant of the fire department) and his sister Samantha Kimich (the secretary for the fire department) were arrested and charged with second-degree felony theft. The alleged embezzlement occurred over the last two years. An investigation was started after the fire department’s assistant fire chief informed police about alleged misuse of department funds. A request for the department expense statement to the county auditor stated that the Fire…
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Erie Firefighter to Get Her Job Back
The Erie firefighter who was terminated from the department after she tried to commit suicide by setting fire to clothes in a bathtub, has won her job back. Mary Wolski, 45, the department’s first female firefighter, set the fire hoping that the smoke would kill her. Wolski was suffering from severe depression and was under medical treatment at the time of the blaze. On December 28, 2006 she attempted suicide in her father’s vacant home by putting cloths into a bath tub and setting it on fire. She then tried to douse the fire with water and went on to cut her…
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Morphine Pumps and Driving Apparatus
Today’s burning question: I am a firefighter paramedic in a volunteer fire department. One of our ambulance drivers was recently put on a morphine pump, and many of us are concerned about whether he should be allowed to drive, or even respond at all. The fire chief and the fire board are allowing it because he has a note from his doctor. Is this legal? Answer: Let me ask the same exact question, but in a different way: I am a volunteer ambulance driver and unfortunately I have a morphine pump. It is a low dose – so low that my doctor…
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Pennsylvania Firefighter Charged With Indecent Assault on Junior
A 20 year old volunteer firefighter from Pennsylvania has been charged with indecent assault for sexually assaulting a junior firefighter last year. Joseph Traino, of the Chambers Hill Fire Company, was in court yesterday on charges that date back to October, 2011. He has been suspended from the fire company pending further investigation.
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Chambersburg Union President Disciplined Over Two Hatter Request
An IAFF union president from Pennsylvania has been disciplined for asking other IAFF members not to volunteer during their off-duty hours in his jurisdiction. Chambersburg Fire Department Captain Patrick Martin, President of Greater Chambersburg Area Paid Fire Fighters Association, IAFF 1813, was suspended without pay for 240 working hours for his October 26, 2011 letter. Download a copy of the letter: Letter-from-Greater-Chambersburg-Area-Paid-Fire-Fighters-Association The letter is pretty self-explanatory and was sent in response to the Chambersburg Borough Council’s proposal to reorganize fire protection and reduce career staffing. Chambersburg Borough Council voted anonymously to discipline Martin by suspending him for 240 hours…
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Firefighter Abuse Victim Receives Settlement from LAFD
A Los Angeles City firefighter has received a half-million dollar settlement following a sexual harassment complaint he filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Firefighter Anthony Almeida complained that he was continually harassed by fellow firefighters after they found out that he had filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Catholic Church alleging that a priest had sexually assaulted him. Almeida’s complaint alleged that the harassment began in 2006 after one of his coworkers learned about the lawsuit he had filed against the priest. Thereafter other firefighters began to mock and harass him by making deeply offensive comments of a sexual…
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St. Louis Residency Rule and Failing Schools Prompt Firefighter’s Suit
Today’s burning question: I am a firefighter and I am bound by the fire department residency requirement to live in the city. I cannot afford to send my children to private school and the city schools are terrible. Can I sue? Answer: That is exactly what five St. Louis firefighters are doing, alleging that because the city’s schools have lost accreditation, state law allows them to send their children to an accredited school district at the city’s expense. The state law in question is the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 167.131, that states as follows: “The…
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Connecticut FD and Ambulance Company Sued for Wrongful Death
The estate of a former teacher convicted of sexual assault, has filed a wrongful death suit against a Connecticut fire department and a private ambulance company. However, the department claims the estate sued the wrong entity and is seeking to be dismissed from the suit. Thomas Bavedas died in December, 2009 due to seizures while being transported between medical facilities. The lawsuit accuses Middletown Fire Department and Hunter’s Ambulance of Meriden of numerous counts of negligence. Bavedas, 40, a teacher in Bridgeport, had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. He was awaiting trial on nine counts of voyeurism, nine counts…
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Union Slams FDNY No Opinion Rule
Directive seeks to limit the posting of “opinions” in fire stations… Yes… no “opinions”… posted in fire stations…. anywhere in the city of New York...
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Union Treasurer Accused of Embezzlement
The treasurer of IAFF Local 1695, Clovis (California) Firefighters has been accused of embezzling more than $150,000 from the organization. Captain John Watson has allegedly confessed to the theft and resigned from the Clovis Fire Department. Criminal charges have yet to be filed in the case as Captain Watson has made efforts to repay all of the amounts in question.
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Anti SLAPP Laws and the DC LT OT Debacle
Last week Dave Statter asked me to look into a case out of Washington, DC, where a fire lieutenant accused of working excessive overtime sued a local TV station claiming its coverage defamed him. The case was recently dismissed under a law called an Anti-SLAPP law. I’m going to do my best to explain the issues – but please understand that this is a complicated area of the law. It also is a lesson to us all in how well intentioned laws enacted to protect the “little guy”, can end up being manipulated by big corporations to protect their interests. Let’s…
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